This course seeks to introduce students to cultural, economic and political life in Africa. The course is designed to equip students with basic and useful knowledge about the peoples and countries of the continent. Since Africa now has over 50 internationally recognized nation-states, the focus of the course shall be on Sub-Saharan Africa. This course is therefore designed to introduce students to the tremendous cultural diversity of sub-Saharan Africa and the major themes and debates that have dominated scholarship on the region. Social organization, religious belief and practice, ethnicity, colonialism and independence movements, economic and political systems, the arts, and popular culture are some of the topics we will explore. We will be approaching these themes from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including history, anthropology, literature, political science, sociology, and economics.

Syllabi are available to current LSA students. IMPORTANT: These syllabi are provided to give students a general idea about the courses, as offered by LSA departments and programs in prior academic terms. The syllabi do not necessarily reflect the assignments, sequence of course materials, and/or course expectations that the faculty and departments/programs have for these same courses in the current and/or future terms.

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